Cover secured around a pipe passed through a building for ornamental and leakage-preventing purposes

ABSTRACT

A cover includes a rubber main body, and several clipping elements; the main body has a hollow truncated-cone shaped portion, an annular or square connecting portion around a lower end of the truncated-cone shaped portion, a longitudinal aperture extending from the upper end to an outward edge of the annular portion, and first and second elongate protrusions along those edges thereof that are adjacent to the longitudinal aperture; the first elongate protrusion has an uppermost covering portion capable of closely touching an upper side of the second protrusion; the clipping elements are used to clamp the first and the second elongate protrusions together so as to close the longitudinal aperture after the rubber main body is positioned around a pipe passed through a part of a building to prevent leakage through the joint between the pipe and the part of the building as a best property. Accordingly, it saves not only more labor power but also cost in order to be assembled and installed much easily; it is not necessary therefor to be processed by means of heavy cutting tools or the like, but ordinary ones; on the other hand, it has an artistic appearance with best durability to avoid any damages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a leak-preventing and ornamental cover, more particularly one, which is securely located around a pipe passed through an object to prevent leakage through the joint between the pipe and the object.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

Conventionally, a cover with ornamental function is securely located around a pipe that is passed through a part of a building, e.g. a roof, a corrugated plate on a housetop, and a wall, to prevent leakage through the joint between the pipe and the part of the building.

Referring to FIG. 5, a conventional leakage-preventing cover 30 is provided, which is made of rubber, and formed with an upper hollow truncated-cone shaped portion 31, an annular connecting portion 32 at a lower end, and an annular wall 33 between the upper truncated-cone shaped portion 31 and the lower annular connecting portion 32. The upper hollow truncated-cone shaped portion 31 is formed in such a way as to have several steps on an outer side. Furthermore, a metal plate 34, which has good flexibility and extendibility, is positioned over the lower annular connecting portion 32.

To connect the cover 30 to a pipe 20 and an object, through which the pipe 20 is passed, first the upper end of the hollow truncated-cone shaped portion 31 is cut to change in the inner diameter so that the pipe 20 can be tightly fitted therein. Next, the cover 30 is positioned around the pipe 20, and supported on the object; thus, the pipe 20 is closely fitted in the upper end of the truncated-cone shaped portion 31. Then, the annular connecting portion 32 and the metal plate 34 are bent together such that the annular connecting portion 32 closely touches the upper side of the object. And, Sealant is applied between the annular portion 32 and the object to stick the cover 30 on the object, thus preventing water from leaking through between the annular portion 32 and the object. Finally, screws are fastened through both the annular connecting portion 32 and the object to secure the cover 30 to the object. Thus, the cover 30 will prevent water or rain from flowing onto the joint between the pipe 20 and the object, thus preventing leakage.

The above cover 30 is found to have a disadvantage, which is that in order to install the cover 30, one first has to position the cover 30 on the upper end of the pipe 20 and move the cover 30 downwards onto the object along the pipe 20, and it will cause trouble to install the cover 30 if the pipe 20 is very tall.

To overcome the above disadvantage, referring to FIG. 6, an improvement 50 on a cover for the above mentioned purpose is made available, which is made of rubber, and which includes an upper hollow truncated-cone shaped portion 51, an annular connecting portion 52 at a lower end, and a longitudinal aperture 54 extending the whole length thereof, i.e. from an upper end of the truncated-cone shaped portion 51 to an outward edge of the annular connecting portion 52. Furthermore, the cover 50 is formed with elongate connecting protrusions 55 along those portions of the edge thereof that are adjacent to the aperture 54. And, a metal plate 53, which has good flexibility and extendibility, is positioned over the lower annular connecting portion 52.

To connect the cover 50 to a pipe and an object, through which the pipe is passed, first the upper end of the hollow truncated-cone shaped portion 51 is cut to change in the inner diameter so that the pipe can be tightly fitted therein. Next, the cover 50 is opened with the connecting protrusions 55 apart from each other, and positioned around the pipe, plus supported on the object; thus, the pipe is closely fitted in the upper end of the truncated-cone shaped portion 51. Then, the connecting protrusions 55 are pressed against each other, and a metallic clipping element 60 is positioned over both the protrusions 55, and made to firmly hold the protrusions 55 together by means of a special tool. Finally, the annular connecting portion 52 and the metal plate 53 are bent together such that the annular connecting portion 52 closely touches the upper side of the object. Thus, the cover 50 will prevent water or rain from flowing onto the joint between the pipe and the object, thus preventing leakage.

Because the cover 50 is formed with the aperture 54, it can be easily positioned around a pipe than the last cover 30 on FIG. 5. However, it will take relatively much time and labor to install the cover 50, because the clipping element 60 has to be forced to firmly hold the two connecting protrusions 53 together by means of a special tool.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, another rubber cover 40 is available, which includes an upper hollow truncated-cone shaped portion 41, an annular connecting portion 42 at a lower end, an annular wall 44 between the portions 41 and 42, and a longitudinal aperture 43 extending from an upper end of the truncated-cone shaped portion 41 to an outward edge of the annular connecting portion 42, and through a gap 441 of the annular wall 44. Furthermore, the cover 40 is formed with two elongate connecting protrusions 46 along those portions of the edge thereof that are adjacent to the aperture 43. A metal plate 45, which has good flexibility and extendibility, is positioned over the lower annular connecting portion 42. And, a metallic elongate clipping member 47 is provided, which can be made to firmly clamp the protrusions 46 together to close the aperture 43 by means of an ordinary tool.

Being formed with the aperture 43, the cover 40 doesn't have to be positioned around a pipe from the upper end of the pipe in installation either. And, the elongate clipping member 47 can be made to clamp the protrusions 46 together by means of an ordinary tool instead. However, the cover 40 is found to have disadvantages as followings:

First, the metallic elongate clipping member 47 is molded tightly on the protrusions 46 and in the rubber, so before to be installed onto the pipe to the object, one has to separate the molded clipping member 47 from protrusions 46 by tearing with force, to make the aperture 43 available for the pipe. During the separation process, the protrusions 46 could be damaged or even broken because the clipping member 47 is metallic and much harder than that of protrusions 46.

Before installed around a pipe, the upper end of the hollow truncated-cone shaped portion 41 of the cover 40 has to be cut to change in the inner diameter such that the pipe can be tightly fitted therein. Therefore, the metallic elongate clipping member 47 will have to be cut by using a heavy duty tool so as to be as long as the aperture 43 after the hollow truncated-cone shaped portion 41 is cut, causing waste of material, time and labor, and more installation tools required.

Although the metallic clipping member 47 can be forced to clamp back to the protrusions 46 by means of an ordinary tool, it still will take much labor and time to make the clipping member 47 clamp the protrusions 46 together. Furthermore, it is difficult to locate the clipping member 47 in a proper position in relation to the elongate protrusions 46 because there's no clear groove or hole to guide the clipping member 47 to clamp back to the originally molded location on the elongate protrusions 46. Therefore, it can't effectively prevent water from leaking through the aperture 43.

Furthermore, one has to make the elongate clipping member 47 clamp the protrusions 46 together by means of exerting force on different sections of the member 47 in sequence with the help of an ordinary tool therefore installation of the cover 40 will also take much more time and labor. And, because the aperture 43 faces an inner side of the clipping member 47 directly, and small space is likely to exist between the aperture 43 and the clipping member 47, it is highly possible for water to leak through the aperture 43.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a main object of the present invention to provide an improvement on a leak-preventing cover to overcome the disadvantages.

The cover of the present invention includes a rubber main body, and clipping elements. The main body has a hollow truncated-cone shaped portion, an annular or square portion around a lower end of the truncated-cone shaped portion, a longitudinal aperture extending from the upper end to an outward edge of the annular or square connecting portion, and first and second elongate protrusions along those edges thereof that are adjacent to the longitudinal aperture. The first elongate protrusion has an uppermost covering portion capable of closely touching an upper side of the second protrusion when the first and the second protrusions are pressed against each other to seal the aperture. The clipping elements are used to clamp the first and the second protrusions together after the rubber body is positioned around a pipe passed through an object. Accordingly, it saves not only more labor power but also cost in order to be assembled and installed much easily; it is not necessary therefor to be processed by means of heavy cutting tools or the like, but ordinary ones; on the other hand, it has an artistic appearance with best durability to avoid any damages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the leakage-preventing ornamental cover according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is another exploded perspective view of the leakage-preventing ornamental cover according to the present invention,

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the leakage-preventing ornamental cover according to the present invention,

FIG. 4 is a top view of the present leakage-preventing cover,

FIG. 5 is a vertical section of the first conventional ornamental leakage-preventing cover in Background,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the second conventional ornamental leakage-preventing cover, which has a longitudinal aperture,

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the third conventional cover, and

FIG. 8 is a top view of the third conventional cover, after installed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferred embodiment 10 of an ornamental and leakage-preventing cover secured around a pipe passed through a building includes a rubber main body, and several clipping elements 19 used for closing the rubber main body.

The rubber main body is formed with an upper hollow truncated-cone shaped portion 11, an annular or square connecting portion 12 around a lower end of the truncated-cone shaped portion 11, an annular wall 13 between the portions 11 and 12, a gap 15 on the annular wall 13, and a longitudinal aperture 16 extending through the gap 15 from an upper end of the truncated-cone shaped portion 11 to an outward edge of the annular or square connecting portion 12. Furthermore, the main body is formed with first and second elongate connecting protrusions 17 and 18 along those portions of the edge thereof that are adjacent to the aperture 16; the second elongate connecting protrusion 18 has a lengthways extending fitting trench 181 adjacent to the portions 11 and 12 on an outward side thereof; the first elongate connecting protrusion 17 has a top covering portion 171 extending sideway from an upper end thereof, and a lateral covering portion 172 extending down from the top covering portion 171, which portions 171 and 172 will closely touching a top and a lateral side of the second protrusion 18 respectively when the protrusions 17 and 18 are clamped together. The first connecting protrusion 17 further has a lengthways extending fitting trench 173 adjacent to both the portions 11 and 12 on an outward side thereof. And, a metal plate 14, which has good flexibility and extendibility, is positioned over the lower annular or square connecting portion 12. Thus, the connecting porting 12 with a metal plate 14 can be made in a circular or square form.

The clipping elements 19 are formed in such a way as to have an “U” shaped section, and each of them has an upper portion, two lateral pressing portions 191, and hooked insertion portions 192 at tail ends of the lateral pressing portions 191 which will be guided to slide or be clamped onto the fitting trenches 173 and 181 easily and cover both connecting protrusions 17 and 18 easily and tightly by using a very simple ordinary tool.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, to install the cover 10 on an object, e.g. a roof, a corrugated plate on a housetop, and a wall, and around a pipe 20 passed through the object, first the upper end of the hollow truncated-cone shaped portion 11 is cut to change in the inner diameter so as to be capable of tightly holding the pipe 20 therein. Next, the cover 10 is opened at the aperture 16, and it is positioned around the pipe 20 and supported on the object, and the first protrusion 17 is closely mounted over the second protrusion 18 to close the aperture 16; thus, the pipe 20 is closely fitted in the upper end of the truncated-cone shaped portion 11. Then, the clipping elements 19 are spaced apart, and connected to the first and the second protrusions 17 and 18 with the hooked insertion portions 192 thereof being respectively fitted in the elongate trenches 173 and 181 of the protrusions 17 and 18, and an ordinary tool is used to make the lateral pressing portions 191 of the clipping elements 19 tightly pressed against the protrusions 17 and 18; thus, the aperture 16 is closed with the protrusions 17 and 18 being firmly clamped together. And, the annular or square connecting portion 12 and the metal plate 14 are bent together such that the annular portion 32 closely touches the upper side of the object. And, sealant is applied between the annular portion 32 and the object to stick the cover 30 on the object, thus preventing water from passing through between the annular or square connecting portion 12 and the object. Finally, screws are fastened through both the annular or square connecting portion 12 and the object to secure the cover 10 to the object. Thus, the cover 10 will prevent water or rain from flowing onto the joint between the pipe 20 and the object, thus preventing leakage.

From the above description, it can be easily understood that the present leakage-preventing cover has advantages over the conventional ones as followings:

Because the cover has the longitudinal aperture 16, it can be easily positioned around a pipe in installation.

The first elongate protrusion 17 is mounted over the second one 18 to cover the longitudinal aperture 16 therefore it will effectively prevent water from leaking through the aperture.

The clipping elements 19 only have to be spaced apart along the elongate protrusions 17 and 18 to clamp the protrusions together instead of covering the whole length of the protrusions therefore it is more economical to use the present clipping elements. And, the clipping elements 19 can be applied to clamp the protrusions together by means of an ordinary tool. Furthermore, it will take much less labor and time to install the present cover than it will to install the conventional ones because the clipping elements won't have to be cut to suit the rubber main body after the hollow truncated-cone shaped portion of the body is cut to a suitable length. 

1. An ornamental and leakage-preventing cover secured around a pipe passed through an object, comprising a rubber main body, the rubber main body having a hollow truncated-cone shaped portion, and an annular or square connecting portion around a lower end of the truncated-cone shaped portion; the annular or square connecting portion having a soft metal plate positioned over it; the main body having an annular wall, which has a gap, between the truncated-cone shaped portion and the annular or square connecting portion; the main body having a longitudinal aperture extending through the gap from an upper end of the truncated-cone shaped portion to an outward edge of the annular connecting portion; the main body being formed with first and second elongate connecting protrusions along those edges thereof that are adjacent to the longitudinal aperture; the first elongate protrusion having a top covering portion extending sideway from an upper end thereof and capable of closely touching an upper side of the second protrusion; and a plurality of clipping elements clamping the first and the second elongate protrusions together so as to close the longitudinal aperture of the rubber main body.
 2. The ornamental and leakage-preventing cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein the clipping elements are formed in such a way as to have an “U” shaped section, and each of the clipping elements has hooked insertion portions at tail ends of lateral portions thereof while each of the first and the second elongate connecting protrusions has a lengthways extending trench adjacent to the truncated-cone shaped portion and the annular or square connecting portion on an outward side thereof; the clipping elements being connected to the elongate protrusions with the hooked insertion portions being fitted in the trenches of the elongate protrusions.
 3. The ornamental and leakage-preventing cover as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first elongate connecting protrusion has a lateral pressing portion extending from the top covering portion thereof to closely touch a lateral side of the second elongate protrusion.
 4. The ornamental and leakage-preventing cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first elongate connecting protrusion has a lateral pressing portion extending from the top covering portion thereof to closely touch a lateral side of the second elongate protrusion.
 5. The ornamental and leakage-preventing cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting portion provided with a metal plate can be made in a circular form.
 6. The ornamental and leakage-preventing cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting portion provided with a metal plate can be made in a square form. 